Sekou Sundiata
|birth_place =Harlem, New York |death_date = July |death_place =Valhalla New York |instrument = Spoken Word |occupation = professor at New School University }} Sekou Sundiata (August 22, 1948 - July 18, 2007) was an African-American poet and performer, as well as an academic.Margalit Fox, "Sekou Sundiata Dies at 58; Performer of Text and Sound," New York Times, July 20, 2007, New York Times Co. Web, May 2, 2013. Life Overview Famous students of Sundiata's include musicians Ani DiFranco and Mike Doughty. His plays include The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop, The Mystery of Love, Udu, and The 51st Dream State. He has also released several albums, including Longstoryshort and The Blue Oneness of Dreams. Youth and education Sekou Sundiata was born Robert Franklin Feaster in Harlem but changed his name in the late 1960s to honor his African heritage. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from the City College of New York in 1972 before successfully undertaking a master's degree in creative writing from the City University of New York. Teaching career Sundiata taught writing at The New School in New York City . DiFranco was one of his students and claimed at the time of his death that Sundiata "taught me everything I know about poetry."AP via Topix.net "Poet, Performer Sekou Sundiata Dies" July 20 2007 Mike Doughty also studied under Sundiata, in the same class as DiFranco. He wrote "Screenwriter's Blues," a minor hit for his band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, while studying in Sundiata's class.Mike Doughty blog Another musician/poet who studied with Sundiata (at Eugene Lang College at The New School for Liberal Arts) was Spin Doctors' lead singer Chris Barron. In fact, it was Sekou that coined the name "Spin Doctors" for the newly formed band in 1988/89. Sundiata was a Sundance Institute Screenwriting Fellow, a Columbia University Revson Fellow, a Master Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, the first Writer-in-Residence at the New School University in New York, and a professor at Eugene Lang College. He was a featured poet on two occasions, at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, most recently in 2006. Performances Sundiata's works combined poetry, music and drama. His musical influences included jazz, blues, funk and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. He worked closely with Craig Harris on works such as Udu about slavery in modern Mauritania and The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop about African Americans reaching adulthood in the 1960s. Sundiata based his 1-man show Blessing the Boats on experiences of heroin addiction (back in the 1960s), a car crash and a kidney transplant from a friend. He toured the show around the United States and internationally.The Australian "Poets passing a profound loss" July 20, 2007 accessed through the Australia New Zealand Reference Centre The impact of the show inspired members of the audience to volunteer to become organ donors.The Melbourne Age "Vale inspiring poet/activist" 20 July 2007 accessed through Ebbsco's Australia New Zealand Reference Centre His last work, the 51st (dream) state, featured music, dance, video and poetry about the responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. After a performance at the Melbourne Festival,The Melbourne Age "Vale inspiring poet/activist" 20 July 2007 accessed through Ebbsco's Australia New Zealand Reference Centre the show was performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November 2006.AP via Topix.net "Poet, Performer Sekou Sundiata Dies" July 20 2007 Recordings Sundiata recorded a number of works. His earliest recording The Blue Oneness of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy. He toured with Ani DiFranco on her Rhythm and News tour in 2001 and his longstoryshort album was released on DiFranco's Righteous Babe label. Sundiata's work was featured on HBO's "Def Poetry" series and PBS's "The Language of Life". Death Sundiata died of heart failure at a hospital in Valhalla, New York on July 18, 2007. He had struggled with many life-threatening conditions throughout his life, including cancer, kidney failure, a kidney transplant, pneumonia, and a broken neck sustained in an auto accident.The Australian "Poets passing a profound loss" July 20, 2007 Recognition The Blue Oneness of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy Award.AP via Topix.net "Poet, Performer Sekou Sundiata Dies" July 20 2007 Publications *''Free!. New York: Shamal Books, 1977. *''Blink Your Eyes: Sekou Sundiata revisited (with Amiri Baraka et al). New York: MAPP International, 2013. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Sekou Sundiata, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 14, 2015. Audio / video Video *''Welcome to the Mainland'' (evideo). Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1995. *''The 51st dream state'' (DVD). Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Music *''The Blue Oneness of Dreams'' (CD). New York: Mercury, 1997. *''Longstoryshort'' (CD) Buffalo, NY: Righteous Babe Records, 2000. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat. See also *African-American poets *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems *Poems ;Audio / video *Sekou Sundiata at YouTube *Remembering Sekou Sundiata, Poet of Sound at National Public Radio *Remembering Sekou Sundiata by Bill Moyers *A 2002 Fresh Air interview with Sekou Sundiata 'Blink Your Eyes: Sekou Sundiata revisited at Amazon.com ;About *Sekou Sundiata 1947-2008 at the Village Voice. *Sekou Sundiata Dies at 58 at New York Times. *Sekou Sundiata at aalbc.com literary site *Blink Your Eyes: Sekou Sundiata Revisited Official website *KadmusArts In Memoriam: Sekou Sundiata *Sedou Sundiata at Righteous Babe record label *Sekou Sundiata at MultiArts Projects African-American poets Category:1948 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American poets Category:African-American writers Category:Righteous Babe artists Category:African-American poets Category:African-American performance poets Category:Reparations for slavery Category:20th-century poets Category:American academics Category:English-language poets Category:Poets